The value of questions

[RITFencing]

So, I've been thinking lately on the value of asking questions, not just me as a coach quizzing the students, but the questions they're asking me.

A strategy I'm thinking of trying to get kids to pay better attention, think about the lesson, and fill in gaps in their (and my) knowledge, is to tell them that after every lesson, they have to ask me one intelligent question and one stupid (by which I mean obvious) question. Both give them another reason to be paying attention and thinking during the lesson. The intelligent question is to stimulate their mind in different ways; try to get them thinking about different concepts, strategies, subtleties, etc. The stupid question does two things: 1) It helps them get over the fear that many of them have about questioning basic things that they don't completely understand but feel they should 2) It can catch gaps and errors in their knowledge that they did not know existed.

Thoughts and reactions?

[jBirch]

It's called the "Socratic Method" and works with a particular type of mind.

You have to remember though, that it takes courage to ask a potentially stupid question during the smart question portion and to answer a stupid question intelligently. It also places the student into the position of having to think of a smart question quickly and some students just have trouble doing that. Some students need to reflect on a lesson for a while and some need to do, rather then think about doing.

I think that if you're hoping to develop coaches from your students, this is a good idea. If you're developing the technical skill of fencing, it's not.

I don't think it helps in the transmission of knowledge from you to them in the general case as much as simple repetition does. Once the technical and terminological base is firm through repetition, THEN you can go out for beer and talk about all the esoteric implications of that information.

I would also like to add that if you encourage questions over fencing, you'll get more questions then fencing.

Hope this helps.

James.

[AaronK]

I really like that Idea of having them ask not only an "intelligent question" but also that they have to ask a "stupid question".

I think if you don't qualify which one is which, you will help students avoid feeling that they are asking a "stupid question" at the wrong time.

I think you might consider having other students answer each other's quetions as well- depending on the experience and maturity of the students (or the nature of the question). The more willing the students are willing to talk to each other about fencing ideas, the more they are going to re-enforce ideas that you have already taught them.

[Qbranch]

Since the proposed question period would come at the end of a session the response might be uneven (especially if the fencers are tired and anxious to get home). Instead you might want to have the group prepare questions for the next session. This would give them time to think and provide some further incentive to 'carry the lesson home'.

As jBirch noted response to the exercise could be mixed and I suspect that some might still be anxious about mistaking a stupid question for a smart one. If this is the case it might also be worth stressing that the simplest questions are often the most challenging. As evident as this is I've had to say it on occasion to encourage timid students to speak up.

A final thought - could it also be worthwhile to present a fencing situation or scenario that requires each student to return to the next session with a strategic response (using some of the movements covered in class)?

[GrimRiposter]

I've used the method suggested by Qbranch now and then as we were working on tactical applications. I would define a situation and show one or two different ways of dealing with it. I would then pair them up and have them find other ways of dealing with the situation. It forces them to think through the situation creatively and gets some fencing practice in as well. Each pair would then come up and show their solution. It is not something I do very often, but it does get them thinking and they do have fun with it. I have also used it to good effect on nights when my youth fencers are restless and have trouble doing drills.